


They Need a Hero

by ChestnutBrumby



Series: Sweet Dreams - Scarlet Vision ficlets [19]
Category: Captain America (Movies), MCU, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Babysitting, Bonding Time, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Family time, Laws of attraction, More sugar than a Mars Bar factory, Other, Revealed truths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-28 10:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7636450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChestnutBrumby/pseuds/ChestnutBrumby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Babysitting night at the Barton's place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Need a Hero

**Author's Note:**

  * For [epifania](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epifania/gifts).



> I wrote this fic for my loyal reader Epifania, who has been keeping me motivated with review after review since I first began writing this series. Thanks for always finding something positive to say my friend, your words mean more than you know. 
> 
> I'm serious, if you read this, all your teeth will fall out, and that goes for everyone, not just Epi.  
> You guys know I can't help myself though. Blame Paul and Lizzie.
> 
> Set during the 'bonding time' period between Age of Ultron and Civil War.

"Is Bolt voiced by the same actor from Pulp Fiction?" Vision was seated in the middle of the couch, with Wanda on one side and Clint's daughter, Lila, on the other. In order for them all to fit, both were leaning against him, Wanda with Nathaniel in her arms, Lila with a bowl of popcorn in hers.  
  
"I think so. Travolta or something. The one with the funny face. He looks better as a dog." Laughed Wanda, accepting a handful of popcorn from the bowl Lila offered her. "Thanks, sweetie."  
  
"Shhhhh. You two always talk through movies." Cooper complained from his beanbag, pulled to within an inch of the screen. "Talk _afterwards_."  
  
Vision exchanged an amused look with Wanda. "Our apologies, Master Cooper." Vision offered, and he and Wanda proceeded to watch the movie in silence, apart from laughter. Wanda tended to laugh more readily than Vision did, since some humorous situations tended to go over his head, but the current choice of movie did afford the sort of jokes he could grasp. More than the movie itself, what made Vision want to laugh was _Wanda_ doing so. He loved the sound of her laugh more than any other sound, and though it never happened when anybody else did it, when she laughed something contagious about it was passed onto him.  
  
After the movie ended and they put the children to bed, reading the elder two several stories beforehand, Vision was eager to discuss the movie's storyline with Wanda. Dissecting movies - from science fiction to animations - was one of the things they did together.  
  
"That seemed a very relevant storyline to our own life." Observed Vision, up to his elbows in soapy water as he washed the dishes. She took the plate he'd finished with and began drying.  
  
"You mean with the whole superpowers plot? What's within you is more important than any powers you perceive yourself having?"  
  
"Yes, but more so learning to function as part of a team. Though, I enjoyed the character of Bolt very much." Professed Vision.    
  
"You would." She laughed, taking the plate he'd set on the rack and drying it. "You're exactly like him. Well in your nature at least. In looks you are perhaps a little cuter." She blushed as soon as she said it, which caught Vision's interest. His skin seemed a touch more heated than was normal for him. He wondered if the water the dishes were in might perhaps be too hot.  
  
"Wanda..?" She busied herself by drying a pot and didn't meet his gaze. An oddity, as she would usually look directly into his eyes when she spoke to him. "Wanda... do you really find my appearance attractive?"  
  
She fidgeted for a moment before her shoulders set squarely and her chin lifted to look at him. "Sure." She accompanied it with an offhand sort of shrug as she reached for the next dish, but Vision could tell there was no note of dishonesty in Wanda's voice. She meant it.  
  
"Vis?"  
  
Vision realized he had abandoned the dishes in favour of staring at her, a furrow wrinkling his usually smooth forehead. "By any human standard, I would not be considered attractive."  
  
"Maybe the standard's wrong then." He still stood stiffly, struggling mentally with what she'd told him.  
  
Realizing how much hearing any sort of acceptance in regards to his appearance was affecting him, she abandoned the last traces of her own embarrassment and reached out to lightly touch his soapy hand. "Your face has very nice symmetry. Your eyes are beautiful, and although you don't smile enough, you are _lovely_ when you do."  
  
That brought up a smile all right, a tiny, hopeful one that melted Wanda's heart completely. "Really?"  
  
"Really." She assured him. "Vis, I'm glad you don't look like everybody else. You're unique, but that doesn't automatically make you unattractive, okay?"  
  
"Thank you, Wanda." He told her softly, and he went back to doing the dishes. There was a set to his shoulders and the hint of a sparkle to his eyes that made her certain he was happy, though, as they went back to discussing the movie.  
  
"Why though, do you think I am similar to Bolt in terms of my nature? I feel as if I have made a productive attempt in increase my understanding of the world."  
  
"You have. It's not actually Bolt's naivety about the world I was thinking of. No, you are both very intelligent and earnest, exceptionally brave, and above all, loyal."  
  
Vision looked as if he was having as much difficulty accepting this as he did the compliment in regards to his appearance. He forgot about the dishes again, hands still partially submerged in the water. "Why do you say that?"  
  
She picked up on the note in his voice - or perhaps she felt in in his mind - of loneliness, that certainty he was set too far apart from other people to bridge the gap between them, brought to the forefront of his mind by their previous conversation.  
  
"Because it's true, silly." She smiled at him. "Not even you can doubt how smart you are, everybody can see that. You always mean what you say, and you never try to lie, or to hide your true intentions, that's what makes you so earnest. As for being brave - I've seen you during training and out on missions - you put your teammates first, you do it all the time. If there's a threat, you put yourself between it and us."  
  
"I fear that is not a just comparison, Wanda. Not only are my senses keener and therefor better able to detect and react to threats, I am the least likely of all the team to take damage."  
  
Wanda shook her head. "That's not how you think about it, though." She snapped her fingers and a small scarlet streak flared to life. "I've heard your thoughts when you make those kinds of calls, and it's never that you're tougher or more bulletproof or faster than whomever you are protecting. You react, you'd take a hit for any of us no matter the damage to you."  
  
He was silent for a moment. "Then what of my loyalty?"

  
"Oh, that's an easy one. You're easily the most loyal person I know. You genuinely think the best of everybody, you devote yourself to other people and don't even think of your own needs."  
  
"My needs are so much fewer than most." He pointed out in vague protest. He had an odd sensation of his earlier heat centering itself in his cheeks.  
  
"Vision, what about all those nights you stayed by my bed, when my nightmares woke me and I was too afraid or upset to sleep? You sat by me, or read to me, or talked to me, you even brought me tea and hot chocolate. You didn't even know how to make hot drinks, did you? Steve told me you asked him to teach you."    
  
He didn't know how to find the words to tell her _he'd_ felt like the one who'd needed _her_ all those nights, the purpose, the companionship she never shied from. Never once had she flinched from his touch or his company or his powers. Nobody else could make that claim. It had never taken any sacrifice on his part to be around her, even when she was hurting and the turbulence of her emotions washed over him.  
  
"I don't require sleep with the same frequency most people do." He pointed out weakly. Wanda wasn't having any of his excuses. "If you did, you would have slept in that chair by my bed." She stated with complete certainty. Seeing his not-quote-convinced expression she huffed softly.  
  
"Let me give you an example. If the government decided they wanted to know more about what HYDRA did to create my powers, locked me up and interrogated me, would you come and rescue me?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"See? You didn't even think about that answer." The crimson glow that had lit up her eyes died down, and she smiled at him. He wanted to protest that his answer had a lot less to do with loyalty and a lot more about being sure nobody would ever separate the two of them, but it as such a vague concept in his own mind he couldn't even begin to put it into words. On autopilot, he carried on washing the dishes.  
  
"Vis, I know you worry sometimes, about being one of a kind, among the Avengers. And you are, but not in a way that has to mean you should keep yourself at arms length from other people. I've started to get to know you pretty well. Don't be afraid to socialize with the others, either." She encouraged. "They're good people, Vis. There's a reason I chose to stay here, after all."    
  
Vision quietly washed the remainder of the dishes, stared into the water for a minute, them remembered and pulled the plug out to drain the water. He meticulously washed both hands to rid himself of the slight greasy residue, then spoke up. "You are wrong about one thing. I have never truly believed that I am 'one of a kind'. I've always had you to remind me otherwise."  
  
There was that innocent sincerity of his again, a steady light shining from his eyes. Wanda felt a grin touch her lips, and she patted his shoulder, then handed him the towel to dry his hands. "We have each other. I consider myself lucky in that."  
  
He smiled back, and she accepted the dishtowel back and draped it over the bar handle of the oven. "Wanda?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Do you think Captain Rogers would allow me to have a dog?"  
  
She laughed. " _No_ , I don't think he'd allow you. Besides, our lifestyles don't exactly scream stability, and dogs need routine and order in their lives, not to have their owners jetting off to save the world every other week. Maybe one day, though. Now, shall we go and watch another movie? We've got time before Clint and Laura come home."  
  
"We shall." Vision decided, and he followed Wanda to the couch again, unspeakably pleased when she curled back up against his side, even though they had the couch to themselves this time.

**Author's Note:**

> The movie they watched is of course the Disney animation Bolt, which happens to be one of my alltime favourites. The title of this fic is from it.


End file.
